The following is a general outline for managing a wildlife pond for amenity and educational use. Other ponds may be left to their own devices, or managed for particular purposes such as wildfowl or fishing. Any plan should be flexible, and take account of the varying ways in which a pond may develop.
- Remove any rubbish from the pond as soon as you notice it, before it attracts any more.
- Mow or scythe any areas of long grass or wild flower meadow in late summer, to prevent them becoming grown over with woody plants. Mow other areas of grass required for access more frequently as required. Avoid any mowing during the period when young froglets are emerging from the pond.
- Weed and mulch any newly planted shrubs or trees in the buffer zone adjacent to the pond.
- Autumn leaves falling or blowing into the pond will increase the rate of siltation. Each autumn, rake off floating leaves, and remove some of those that settle on the bottom.
- From about February onwards in the south, and somewhat later in north, look out for frogspawn, toadspawn and adult amphibians in the pond. A walk around the pond on a mild night with a torch should hopefully show a mass of amphibian activity. Early spring is a good time for observing life in the pond, as the water is clear and not yet obscured by marginal and aquatic growth, and the newts, frogs and toads still are very active.
- Apply barley straw between February and April as a preventative measure against excessive algal blooms. This is easy to do, and is probably worth doing routinely each year. Even if the weather conditions for an algal bloom do not then materialise, the rotting barley straw will prove a magnet to invertebrate larvae and tadpoles.
- Check the survival of any marginal and aquatic plants planted the previous year. If the survival rate is poor, try and establish what has gone wrong before doing any replanting. Grazing by waterfowl may be the cause, or fish may have been put into the pond by other people, to the detriment of aquatic plant growth.
- Observe the water levels during the year. Fluctuation and even drying out are not necessarily a problem, as many organisms can survive temporary drying out. Dry conditions also oxidise bottom sediments and allow accumulated silt to blow away, so lengthening the time before the pond silts up. If water is needed throughout the year for fish or for other reasons, check for leaks and repair as necessary, or increase the supply of water to the pond in following years.
- Observe the amount of free-floating and floating-leaved rooted plants covering the pond during the middle of the summer. A new pond should not normally be completely covered in its first year, but older ponds are not necessarily ‘overgrown’ even if there is little or no open water by the middle of the summer. As necessary, remove some of the growth in late summer as it begins to die down to prevent it rotting down and enriching the pond.
- Depending on the original planting density, the marginal vegetation can be left for two or three years to establish. Leave the dead stems and leaves over winter. There are various regimes by which the vegetation can then be managed. One option is to clear patches each autumn in rotation, so that there is always a succession developing from bare mud.
Another approach is to clear marginal vegetation from its ‘invading front’, on the inner side of the margin. This leaves the landward side as undisturbed habitat. This method may be the best to use where it is important to keep a solid margin of vegetation to discourage access to the pond.
On a larger pond, both approaches can be used in different parts of the pond.
- Trampling by pond dipping parties or others can be useful in keeping margins open, and maintaining bare mud or shingle. Encourage or discourage trampling as necessary by use of fencing.
- If marginal plants start spreading noticeably from the margins of the pond into the centre, action will need to be taken to remove them. Accumulated silt, or a lowering of the average water level may be the reason. Silt should be dug out in late autumn (see Chapter 9 – Pond and waterway restoration), clearing only a part of the pond in a season. A lowering of the water level may be due to lowering of the water table, reduced flow into the pond or a leak in an artificial lining. Repair leaks and improve the flow if possible. A natural pond which is drying out due to lowering of the water table can be dug deeper, but check ground water levels before you start digging. It may be best to leave it to its fate.
- Check dipping platforms, bridges or any other structures to make sure they are safe. Replace any damaged decking. Keep fences in good repair.
